Yuichi couldn't
sleep. The left side of his bed felt horribly empty without Makoto
curled up there, hogging the pillow and looking so heart-achingly
peaceful in her sleep. Those last few days had been the most
beautiful days of his life – he and his love, always together, and
somehow without realizing it he had fooled himself into hope. Some
part if him, irrationally, had believed that Makoto would live in
spite of the divine laws of nature, that there was some way to avoid
the price of a miracle...he was so stupid.

Why, he thought
bitterly, had they wasted so much time squabbling instead of just
loving each other as long as they could? Every angry or sarcastic
word he'd ever said to her now burned in his mind with the pain of
regret. Though even the fights had been fun, in a way he hadn't
realized before he learned that he'd never be able to fight with
her again.

This was wrong. She was
his bride, even if the wedding consisted of nothing but a veil and
his own heartfelt vow. He remembered her, stretched out on this very
bed and saying softly, "I want to get married to Yuichi...then
we can be together."

If only I could
bring her back...even though I know it's impossible...it would take
another miracle.

He sat up. For some
reason, the word miracle had dislodged a memory which he
hadn't thought about in days. It was Amano Mishio daydreaming out
loud, wondering if it were possible to make candy rain from the sky.
If all the foxes of Scenic Hill worked together, she'd said,
imagine what a miracle they could make! she'd said, smiling
dreamily, and he'd scoffed at her and changed the subject. But
could it be – was it possible - ? Reason told him he was just being
silly, but hope flamed up without his intention and began to burn,
filling him with restless energy so that he tossed and turned in his
bed for hours.

There were so many
things that could go wrong. The foxes might refuse to listen to the
man who caused their fellow's death. They might not understand. He
might not even find them, for heaven's sake! But still – suppose
he brought a lot of food as a bribe, spoke to them very politely,
explained how much Makoto had meant to him and how sorry he was –
there was a faint chance that they would listen to him. He closed his
eyes and tried to make himself relax. Foxes were not nocturnal; he
would have to wait until daylight to seek them out. He had to get
some sleep and keep his wits about him tomorrow.

Scenic Hill was bathed
in red and gold, a sunrise as magnificent as the sunset he had seen
on his last visit. Strangely enough, there was still no snow on the
ground and the air was warm; it really must be an enchanted place.
Yuichi worked carefully, laying out trays of food in front of him on
the grass. He'd brought meat buns, sushi, sashimi, raw ground beef,
cheese and a few other things he guessed might tempt a fox. He sat
down at a slight distance from the trays, spread his hands on his
knees to show he was unarmed, and waited a few seconds before he
could bring up the nerve to speak. He felt incredibly awkward,
sitting alone talking to the air, waiting for mythical creatures
which might or might not appear.

"Minna-san,"
he began, "My name is Aizawa Yuichi and I was a friend of your
companion. She called herself Makoto and – you probably know this –
she passed away here on this hill a few weeks ago. It was partly my
fault...she invoked a miracle in order to be with me." His voice
began to tremble; he paused a few seconds to pull himself together
and went on. "I never meant for her to do that...I would have
stopped her if I'd known."

At that moment he
caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes beneath a bush. At the same time,
he heard a voice in his mind – not speaking in words, but in
thoughts, and definitely foreign to him. It was a female, elderly
sort of voice, and the message was short and clear. Is the food
for us? she asked.

"Yes," he answered
aloud, and the eyes moved; they were attached to the long,
orange-furred, pointed head of a fox. Once she was visible, her
fellows slowly stepped out from the underbrush; Yuichi was amazed at
how well they camouflaged themselves. They ate quickly and neatly,
just as he had seen Makoto do, only without the use of chopsticks.
Soon the trays were demolished, and the foxes had ranged themselves
in a sort of half-circle. Yuichi was absurdly reminded of Children's
Story Hour at the library. The fox who had spoken to him, apparently
the leader, sat closest to him and stared attentively through her
deep brown eyes. Go on.

"A friend of mine
thought that – since whoever or whatever has the power to grant
wishes asks for a person's memories and their life energy – we
thought that maybe if we all give a little – a few memories, a bit
of energy – to them, it might be enough to bring Makoto back. I'm
asking – I'm begging you – to at least consider her idea. Even
if it doesn't work, it's worth a try, right?" His voice rose
with his conviction. "If we don't try, we'll never find out and
spend all our lives wondering. I love Makoto – and I know you do –
and I'd do anything to bring her back."

The last words hung in
the air like a cloud and nobody moved. Finally the leader said, Love
is a human thing. We do not know it. If we confront the Spirit of
Scenic Hill, what will you give us in return?

Yuichi was thrown. He
hadn't expected this to turn into a bout of bargaining.

"What do you want?"
he asked, the only response he could think of.

More food like this,
chorused all the foxes. We get so hungry in the winter!
The leader agreed.

A smile of gratitude
and relief broke out on his face. "Then I'll bring you a load
like this every Sunday – with Makoto. Do we have a deal?"

Done. The
leader's tail swished back and forth energetically; her ears were
up and there was almost an expression of determination on her face.
Now, she said firmly, we shall pray.

They each barked out
loud, once, and Yuichi clapped his hands as if he were at a Shinto
shrine. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced before; he forgot
that he was named Aizawa Yuichi, went to high school and had a human
body. It was his soul speaking, as well as those of the foxes, and
they were the same.

He could not have said
whether the exchange took hours, minutes or seconds, or what exactly
passed between them and the Spirit. It was beyond his human mind, so
his memories of that time were dimmed as a sort of safety mechanism,
so that direct contact with a superhuman force would not drive him
past the edge of sanity.

He and the foxes also
felt their minds reaching out to everyone who had known Makoto: they
were surprised, then shocked, to varying degrees.

Akiko and Nayuki, at
the breakfast table, looked at each other and gasped; the jam jar
Akiko had been holding shattered on the floor without her noticing.

Ayu's body in the
hospital stirred and moaned; her other self began to flicker.

Mishio's eyes snapped
open as she lay in bed; once she realized what was happening, she
began to cry with incredulous joy.

Mai did not stir from
her post by the school window; she entered into contact with everyone
as matter-of-factly as if she did it every day.

The Spirit was asking
for memories – any memories of theirs that had to do with Makoto.
Yuichi's first impulse was to shout, No! He wanted to argue
that it was unfair – how could he do without the most precious days
of his life – but his common sense, as well as the others,
intervened before he broke contact completely.

Once she's here,
we can make plenty of new memories! said Nayuki.

We can make friends
with her all over again, won't that be fun? Ayu added.

It was Mai's stern,
stoic voice which made the final argument. What is worse, she
said, To look forward to meeting her or to look back on past
regrets?

In the end, he saw the
reason of this and gave in.

All he remembered,
afterwards, was a general sense of positivity, of yes, and
when he came out of his trance, he was exhausted. Still he ran all
the way home, knowing whom he would find there. he was dizzy with
conflicting emotions; he was so happy he might burst, but at the same
time horribly afraid, and he arrived at Akiko's house out of
breath, barely holding on to his balance. It was like something out
of a dream.

Where on Earth have
I been? he asked, confused. It's almost lunchtime...but the
last thing I remember is getting out of bed to take a walk. Why am I
so happy...and so afraid?

When Akiko opened the
door, she was beaming all over her kind, honest face so that her eyes
were nearly closed. "Yuichi-kun, we have a guest tonight," she
said. "Nayuki found this poor girl wandering around in the streets.
She appears to have amnesia...she's forgotten everything except her
name."

Behind her another
female figure came into view: red-golden hair, violet eyes, a blue
skirt and jacket, vibrant, beautiful. Piro was enthroned on her head
as if he had never been away.

"Makoto-chan, this is
my nephew, Aizawa Yuichi. And this young lady is named Sawatari
Makoto."

To Yuichi's great
surprise, the stranger immediately crossed the room and threw herself
into his arms. "Hey, now – " was all he could think of to say,
but she was so warm and soft, and it felt so irrationally good to
have her holding him...

"I – I'm sorry!"
She blurted out, suddenly letting go of him like a hot coal. "I
don't know why I did that – it's only – "

" – I think I've
met you before," they finished together.

"And if I'm not
mistaken," Yuichi added, "I liked you a lot."

Makoto blushed.

"Akiko-san? Please
let her stay," said Yuichi, turning to his aunt. "As long as she
likes. I can't put my finger on it...but I'd really like her to
stay."

Akiko held up one
finger, put her head to one side, and smiled.

"All right," she
said.

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